António Simões (executive)

António Simões
António Simões
Born	March 12, 1975 (age 51); Portugal
Occupation	Financial services executive
Years active	2007–present
Known for	Group chief executive of Legal & General

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article António Simões (executive), available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 8 August 2025

António Pedro dos Santos Simões (born 12 March 1975) is a senior executive in financial services who assumed the role of group chief executive at Legal & General in January 2024, taking over from Nigel Wilson.

Before this, he held the position of regional manager for Europe at Banco Santander and accumulated twelve years of experience working with HSBC in both London and Hong Kong.

Early life

Simões was born in Portugal and grew up in Almada, where he attended Frei Luis de Sousa. He graduated as the top student from the Nova School of Business and Economics in Lisbon, earning a degree in economics. Subsequently, he completed an MBA at Columbia Business School located in New York City.

HSBC

After brief tenures at Goldman Sachs and McKinsey, Simões joined HSBC in 2007. On 1 November 2012, he was named chief executive of HSBC UK and deputy chief executive of HSBC Bank plc, the group's principal UK and European subsidiary.

He advanced to chief executive of HSBC Bank plc and chief executive for Europe on 1 September 2015. Beginning 1 January 2019, he took on the role of chief executive for global private banking.

Santander

Simões moved to Banco Santander in 2020 as regional manager for Europe. In 2021, he was appointed Chief Executive of Santander Spain while maintaining his responsibilities as Regional Head of Europe.

Legal & General

On 1 January 2024, Simões stepped into the role of group chief executive at Legal & General and concurrently joined the board of Legal & General Group plc.

Other activities

He is an active advocate addressing youth unemployment and has been engaged with the King's Trust since 2012, becoming a trustee for Prince's Trust International in 2018.

In 2012, he co-founded the Conselho da Diáspora Portuguesa (World Portuguese Network), providing counsel to the Portuguese presidency.

From July 2013, he served on the practitioner panel of the Financial Conduct Authority, chairing it between August 2015 and August 2017. He also joined the practitioner panel for the Prudential Regulation Authority in November 2013.

In 2015, Simões contributed to a steering committee evaluating a possible merger among UK banking trade associations and became a practitioner member of the Banking Standards Board in April that year.

Personal life

Simões is openly gay and married to Tomas; together they have two children.

He has contributed chapters to books such as Lord Browne's The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out Is Good Business and Stephen Frost's The Inclusion Imperative. In January 2015, he was ranked first on the Out at Work & Telegraph Top 50 LGBT Executives list, highlighting influential leaders in the workplace. Additionally, OUTstanding in Business alongside the Financial Times recognized him as the most inspiring LGBT senior executive in October 2013. That same year, he received the Diversity Champion of the Year award at the European Diversity Awards.

External links